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Home » ColumnsReopening of Palali road: Low key but various issues highlighted
Initially, the government wanted to keep the reopening of an access road in Palali in the north after 34 years as a low-key event for a couple of reasons: one was not to allow the opportunity to be used for political campaigning purposes ahead of the general election, and the other was not to leave [...]
Poverty and malnutrition despite economic improvements
Key macroeconomic indicators are signalling a turnaround in the economy. Yet, poverty and deprivation of food and other basic needs have increased. Despite macroeconomic improvements, the economic hardships of the poor persist and have perhaps worsened. The economy has reversed its declining trend to a growth trajectory, inflation has decelerated, the balance of payments surplus [...]
The NPP has found its strongest ally in former president Ranil Wickremesinghe
It would be better for former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and more importantly, for the democratic health of Sri Lanka if he retires gracefully from the political stage, sooner rather than later. A diversion from the failings in governance Effectively Mr Wickremesinghe has become President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD)-led National Peoples’ Power (NPP)’s strongest ally, it [...]
Recent arrests only the tip of the corruption iceberg
By Javid Yusuf One of the key factors that propelled President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the National People’s Power (NPP) to power last month was the focus on corruption and the pledge to curb, if not eliminate, it from governance. This cry helped the Government to mobilise the voters and increase the three percent who [...]
Marathon Man won’t give up
My dear Uncle Ranil, I thought I must write to you after seeing and hearing you, so soon after the last big election. Maybe I should have written to you earlier to offer you my commiserations about the outcome of that election but I really didn’t expect to see you bounce back and be so [...]
Will ‘One Shot’ Ranjan’s dream election set crash after adverse publicity storm?
Party’s own Colombo candidate blows the lid off startling claims Actor Ranjan Ramanayake must have wished he was still in solitary jail after being found guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court for saying, ‘They are all rogues, mallie’. At least four impregnable walls would have shielded his ignorance of the basic election laws that [...]
The real face starting to show or an ‘expert’ slipping on the verbal floor
At a campaign meeting in Matara last week, a rather irate President Anura Kumara Dissanayake turned his multi-barrelled big guns on some media and politicians for churning out carefully crafted misinformation to discredit his NPP government. His anger was palpable for his rapid fire shot down Goebelsian mischief makers who misread the Nazi propagandists’ techniques [...]
President AKD seeks two-thirds majority, but serious doubts about it
Low turnout feared due to voter fatigue while major political parties face cash crunch Division within division in north; UK-based entrepreneur forms new party, while breakaway groups form collective with smaller parties US envoy’s clarification on travel advisory draws flak; severe criticism over double standards and diplomatic duplicity By Our Political Editor The unusual [...]
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